Digicash is now issued by the country’s 4 main retail banks making it available to more than 80% of primary accounts.

BGL BNP Paribas unveiled its Digicash App in March 2015, allowing its client base to pay with their smartphones. The application can be downloaded free of charge from the App Store as well as Google Play and lets customers pay both in stores or remotely. Payments are made straight from bank accounts without the need for a card or a prepaid account in-between.

Another noteworthy aspect is that BGL BNP Paribas chose to link the Digicash application to its Premium Benefits loyalty scheme, which allows its clients to increase their bonus pot with every payment made in a shop or online or even with the settlement of invoices. This bonus pot may be used to enjoy unique events or exclusive benefits in various areas.

According to Mr Kik Schneider, member of the BGL BNP Paribas Executive Committee, “the setup of our own mobile payment application allows us both to diversify our range of payment methods and to deal with new players entering the payments area by offering an innovative solution to our clients that enables us to stay in control”.

As underlined by Raoul Mulheims, the CEO of Digicash Payments, “this new partnership now makes the Digicash solution available to more than 80% of bank customers in Luxembourg. Luxembourg thus confirms its forward move and leading position in banking-centric m-payment in Europe”. Indeed the Digicash solution is now available to the customers of Luxembourg’s 4 main payment instrument issuers and has been downloaded by the equivalent of more than 10% of the national population.

Digicash Payments has thus created the basis for a new standard thanks to its disruptive positioning among instant confirmation payment instruments by using SEPA credit transfers as the underlying payment channel, but also because it is a truly and fully digital payment authorisation tool and this has the potential to become the 'new normal' for day-to-day payments in all contexts and industries.